IB Geography • HL4.2
Global Networks & Flows
Trade, investment, production, migration, remittances, aid and the shadow networks of illegal flows.
How different places become interconnected by global interactions
Reading the world as a network
Goods, capital, information and people move through nodes, routes, hubs and chokepoints.
Connectivity is uneven. A place may be central to finance but peripheral to trade, while infrastructure, regulation, borders and geopolitical risk still constrain flows.
Starter — Flow-map warm-up
Choose one material, one financial and one human or informational flow. Identify origins, destinations, major nodes and constraints, then form a hypothesis about who gains power by controlling the network.
Global trade in goods and services
Trade creates interdependence while tariffs, conflicts, energy costs and chokepoints continually reorganise its geography.
Enquiry 1 — Trade pulse
Use WTO evidence to compare trade volume, value and balance. Find one fast-growing and one slow-growing flow, then decide whether the pattern is best described as deglobalisation, slowbalisation or re-globalisation.
FDI, outsourcing and production networks
TNCs distribute headquarters, design, finance, suppliers, assembly and consumers across different places.
Value and spatial division of labour
Design, components, assembly, logistics and consumption link California, East Asia and global markets.
Suppliers and logistics
A vast supplier base, standardised products, inventory systems and global retail connect markets differently.
Enquiry 2 — Who gains from a global product?
Map a product’s network and annotate where profits, skilled work, low-paid work and environmental costs concentrate. Distinguish FDI from outsourcing and assess whether states or corporations hold more power.
Migration, remittances, aid and debt
People move toward opportunities while money, ideas and social connections often flow back to origin communities.
Remittances should be measured as both absolute flows and shares of GDP. Aid, concessional loans and debt relief connect donors, lenders, governments and households, but the direction and power relations of financial flows require evaluation.
Enquiry 3 — Follow the money
Compare a high-volume remittance corridor with a remittance-dependent economy. Trace one aid or loan flow, identify conditions and opportunity costs, and judge whether it reduces or reproduces dependency.
Illegal flows
Human trafficking, online scam centres, wildlife crime, counterfeit goods and illicit finance exploit the same connectivity as legal trade.
Enquiry 4 — Network autopsy: South-East Asia
Map origins, transit points, destination markets, digital platforms and enforcement gaps in one illegal flow. Identify who controls the network, who is vulnerable and which intervention would disrupt it most effectively.
HL synthesis — Who controls global flows?
Connect trade, TNCs, remittances, aid and illegal networks. Answer: “The most powerful actors in global networks are no longer states.” Discuss. [12]